


The Simple Things

by BartonStark (BloodEnvy)



Category: Guardians of the Galaxy (Movies), Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Canon Compliant, Canon Universe, Canon-Typical Violence, F/M, Gen, Minor Violence, Violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-03
Updated: 2020-01-03
Packaged: 2021-02-27 15:00:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,161
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22099078
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BloodEnvy/pseuds/BartonStark
Summary: A purely self-indulgent reader-insert version of (most of) the guardians’ first encounter. (some dialogue lifted straight from gotg).
Relationships: Guardians of the Galaxy Team & Reader, Peter Quill & Reader, Peter Quill/Original Character(s), Peter Quill/Original Female Character(s), Peter Quill/Reader, Rocket Raccoon & Reader, Rocket Raccoon/Original Character(s), Rocket Raccoon/Original Female Character(s), Rocket Raccoon/Reader
Comments: 5
Kudos: 76





	The Simple Things

“Xandarians. What a bunch of losers.” Rocket declared, eyes on the monitor in his paws. “All of them in a big hurry to get from somethin’ stupid, to nothin’ at all. Pathetic.”

You rolled your eyes good-naturedly, leaning back on your hands comfortably. You were sitting on the edge of the fountain in the city square, face turned upwards to catch the day’s warmth on your skin. After two weeks in that shitty commuter ship the three of you had hitched a ride on a few planets over, you were completely content to relax and enjoy the sunlight, but Rocket had these crazy notions about getting paid. He’d spent the entire journey talking about making a score, and you’d spent just as much time wishing for the iPod you’d left on Terra those years back. You liked a payday just as much as he did, but you were really sick of hearing about it

“While you’ve got nothing but important, life-or-death plans, right?” you said snidely, a hand raised. With a practiced flick of your fingers a small bubble of psychokinetic energy appeared above you, shining in the sunlight. You guided it higher with a few gentle movements of your hand, letting it float away like a bubble. When it got too high, you’d let it disappear, and start all over again.

“Would you stop showin’ off?” he replied, pointing the tablet at a blonde-haired man walking by, shopping bag in hand. “Look at this guy! Can you believe they call us criminal, when he’s assaulting us with that haircut?” Without waiting for an answer, he turned it toward a small child, dawdling along the sidewalk with its father. “What is this thing?”

You released your latest bubble with a sigh and followed his gaze, raising your hand to shield your face. You shook your head in exasperation. “It’s a baby, Rocket.”

“Look how it thinks it’s so cool. It’s not cool to get help! Walk by yourself, you little gargoyle.”

You scoffed, rolling your eyes again. You returned to sunning yourself pointedly, kicking a boot up along the fountain’s edge in front of you. The other was planted on the sidewalk. You dipped a hand in the water, enjoying the coolness of it on your fingertips. “Again, it’s a _baby._ They tend to need a hand every now and then… say, like you after too many drinks?”

“Stop spoilin’ the fun, Y/N,” he said, turning his head so you could catch the edge of his smile. You grinned lazily back. “I mean, look at this. Look at Mr. Smiles over here.” You followed where he was pointing; an old man was cozying up to a much younger woman against a railing, his hand around her waist. “Where’s your wife, old man? What a class-A _pre-vert_.”

You smirked despite yourself as Rocket burst into laughter.

“Right, Groot? …Groot?” he turned towards the two of you when he got no answer. He gestured in exasperation as he did. “Don’t drink the fountain water, you idiot! That’s disgustin’!”

You coughed a laugh as Groot turned, mouth and hand still dripping, shaking his head.

“Yes, you did! I just saw you doin’ it! Why are you lyin’?” he rounded on you. “Why didn’t you stop him?”

“He’s a plant, Rocket.” you pointed out, leaning forward briefly to pat Groot’s hand reassuringly. He smiled widely at you. “I don’t think it’s gonna hurt him.”

“It’s unsanitary,” Rocket griped petulantly. His ears perked up as his tablet sounded, and he dropped the issue immediately, distracted. You arched your neck to see the read-out over his shoulder. He held it up as it flashed, trying to find a focus. “Look’s like we got one.”

“That was fast.”

He pointed it toward a man on one of the upper streets and you straightened to get a look at him. Good-looking, and talking to a woman. “Okay, humie.” Rocket said, and you paused, eyebrow raised. “How bad does someone want to find you…? Forty thousand units? Groot, Y/N… we’re gonna be rich!”

He sighed as he turned to face the two of you – Groot had his face buried in the fountain again. You barely noticed – your eyes were still on the man, now headed toward a few smaller businesses down the way. “Groot, damn it…”

“Did you say he was Terran?” you asked, curiously. You hadn’t seen someone else from Terra in… you weren’t sure how long. People like you didn’t tend to end up off planet, let alone out of the milky way.

“Yeah, you can swap childhood stories once we got him sedated and on a ship,” Rocket said sarcastically. “Now, would you two focus up. We got a bounty to collect.”

* * *

You watched carefully as the target – Peter Quill (also known to go by the moniker ‘Star-Lord’, according to his wanted listing) – stumbled backwards out of a small pawn brokerage, the ball he’d been throwing around earlier still in hand. You were sitting on a wall further down the way, close enough to keep an eye on him, far enough away to be inconspicuous. An attractive Zehoberei woman lingered by the doorway – and had been since he’d gone inside – and he stopped to speak to her. You couldn’t hear their conversation, but your fingers twitched as your eyes tracked her body language.

It had changed as soon as he’d stepped outside; she was alluring, and she was laying it on thick. Either she was a hooker, or he was a mark of a different kind. He was just too stupid to see it.

“Rocket, eyes up. I don’t trust this chick.” you muttered into the communicator on your jacket collar, feigning a languid stretch of your arms above your head.

“Keep your shirt on, woman.” he grumbled back. You weren’t entirely sure where he and Groot were, but you knew they were nearby. None of you were willing to let that many units slip away. “We got it.”

“This chick has him marked.” you shot back. “How am _I_ supposed to distract him if he’s already got eyes on her?”

“Oh, c’mon, Y/N—”

“Shit! Move in, NOW!” you ordered, uncaring about your volume. You jumped to your feet, flinging yourself away from the wall. The Zehnobereian had just snatched that thing out of his hand and kicked him in the chest, sending him stumbling back with a grunt. She’d taken off impressively fast through the crowd, and equally impressive, Quill had thrown a magnetic rope after her and followed.

You chased after them, pushing your way through shocked pedestrians as the woman struggled to free her legs where the rope had caught. Quill launched himself at her as she succeeded and she succeeded, landing two boots to the stomach for his effort. The two of them fell into a brawl on the pavement, and you were still about fifteen feet away when he reached for the gun on his belt. She trapped his hand with her boot, trapping him beneath her, a knife suddenly in her hand.

“This wasn’t the plan.” she told him, raising the blade above her head. You shoved a gawking woman out of your way, swinging your hands up in front of you to force them apart.

“Rocket!”

He caught the woman from the side, knocking her to the ground. He struggled on top of her as Groot approached, a sack in hand. “Put him in the bag! Put him in the bag!”

You had to stop yourself from rolling your eyes, momentarily distracted, as Groot’s roots began to wind themselves around the woman. Quill was still on his back, eyes wide with confusion.

“No! Not her, him! Learn genders, man!” Rocket shouted, struggling to hold her back as she stood. His claws were in her hair, dangerously close to her eyes, scratching up her face as Groot tightened his hold around her middle. You were trying to find an opening to subdue her, but with her entangled in Groot’s roots, there wasn’t much you could do. While your abilities were an asset, they meant you’d never really needed to be competent in hand-to-hand altercations. “Y/N, a little hel—Ah!” he withdrew a paw. “Biting? That’s not fair!”

“Goddamn it! Groot, let her go, I got it!”

Quill’s eyes flew to you at the sound of your voice, his forehead creasing for a second before he shook himself and took off, orb in hand.

“Shit!” you cursed again, taking off after him. You wove your way through the throng of people between you, pushing people out of the way with two hands. You just needed a clear line of sight—

“Y/N!” Rocket’s voice brought you skidding to a stop, and you turned to see him thrown from the balcony. The woman had broken free from Groot and had flung him off of herself, and you caught him with a shield moments before he hit glass. It softened his landing slightly, but it would still hurt. She was leaping off the wall to the square below, a sword in hand, and you turned to find Quill at a standstill, orb gone from his hand.

“I guess she’s not in it for the bounty,” you muttered as he launched himself off the upper-street as well, a rocket-pack from his boot in his hand. Groot was gone, and you rolled your eyes, cracking your neck as you ran for the nearest stairs. “Why is nothing ever easy?”

You’d made it to the lower-street just as Groot managed to throw his sack over Quill’s head, and you wiped a hand over your forehead. You panted, catching your breath as you fell into step beside Rocket. “So, what’d I miss?”

“You still got those quick reflexes, doll,” he said, giving you a quick smirk before turning to head down the stairs. He turned to speak to Groot as he went. “Quit smilin’, ya idiot. You’re supposed to be a professional.”

He stopped in his tracks, sobering, as he turned to find the Zehobereian in front of him, soaking wet and sword still clutched in her fist. “You gotta be kidding me.”

She pushed him to the ground without a glance, eyes on Groot. He dropped the sack, backing up a few steps. You flung up your hand as she raised her blade, a forcefield appearing between them and throwing her back a few feet.

Putting you in the middle.

Fury in her eyes, she turned her attention on you, and you grimaced, stepping between her and Groot in the hope she’d be distracted long enough for him to get the payload out of there. Or at least away from her crazy self. “Uh… whoops?”

The woman spun, so quick you didn’t have time to react, her kick catching you in the stomach. The wind left you in a heaving exhale, and your feet left the ground as you were thrown backwards. You landed in a heap on top of Quill – still trapped in the sack – and heard him grunt in surprise.

“Sorry,” you wheezed, hand clutching at your stomach as you struggled to catch your breath.

The woman hadn’t paused, and she cut off both of Groot’s arms and buried the blade in his stomach in a matter of moments. Satisfied he was no longer a threat, she turned and bent down in front of you, opening the sack. She was flung back, body shaking with electricity and suddenly unconscious. You were jostled to the ground as Quill stood, and you coughed a breathless laugh as he shot you a wink and what could have been a flirty smirk before taking off at a sprint.

Rocket pulled the blaster from his back. He spoke to you over his shoulder where you sat painfully on the pavement. “You wanna do the honors?”

“’s all yours,” you replied with some difficulty, waving a hand towards Quill’s retreating back. Rocket grinned, taking aim and setting it to ‘stun’.

“I live for the simple things. Like how much this is gonna hurt.” He fired, and a ball of electricity was launched across the square and straight into Quill’s back. Rocket snickered as he fell to the ground with a shout. “Yeah. Writhe, little man.”

He turned to you with a grin. “Only thing that comes close to that satisfyin’ is when you have ‘em run right into one of those walls of yours.” He laughed loudly, high on success. He stopped short as Groot whimpered, toeing pitifully at his fallen arm. Rocket rolled his eyes. “It’ll grow back, you d’ast idiot. Quit whining.”

You gasped as you were suddenly lifted from the ground, held weightless a few feet from the pavement by suppression beams. You looked up, sighing heavily as you were met with the sight of five Nova Corps ships hovering above you. “Looks like we’re not getting paid.”

“Subject Eight-Nine-P-One-Three, drop your weapon.”

Rocket dropped his gun reluctantly, ears drooping in defeat. “Oh, crap.”


End file.
